More Plumbing

At English Orchards, no inside plumbing meant having to take baths in a galvanized wash tub. Mom would set it up in the kitchen and heat water on the stove and then we would take turns using it. At some point, Dad managed to build a shower in the basement. This was fine in the summer, but in the winter with no heat, it was brutal. The house was heated by a stove in the living room. I know it burned wood, but I’m not sure about coal. Even with the door to the stairway open, the upstairs two rooms didn’t get heated very well. We’d grab our clothes and head to the living room in the morning so we could get dressed by the hot stove. One day, according to mom, Bob Jr. was getting dressed, bent over and one of his butt cheeks connected with the stove. She said he really was burned and couldn’t sit comfortably for a while.
On Cable Road, we had a furnace that burned wood and coal. Later it was changed to gas, so it didn’t have to be “fed” all the time. It was still cold upstairs in the winter, but a big improvement. It was in half the basement. The other half had a shower and shelves for canned goods. We’d leave the door open between them to try to get a little heat if we wanted to shower, but didn’t do a lot of good. Also left it open in the coldest weather so the jars of food wouldn’t freeze and explode.